Muscle fibre types in the myotome of stickleback, <i>Gasterosteus aculeatus</i> L.; a histochemical, immunohistochemical and ultrastructural study

Abstract

In myotomes of the stickleback three main complexes of muscle fibres were present. They comprised dwarf, intermediate and white fibres, which differed in regard to histochemical, immunohistochemical and ultrastructural features. In addition, dwarf fibres were divided into two categories on the basis of myofibrillar ATPase activity and cross‐reactions with specific antisera. Among intermediate muscle fibres it was possible to observe some ‘aberrant fibres’, which were characterized by low reactivity with and P‐myosin serum.